Saturday, March 31, 2012

Calamity 13, city decides it cannot move fast enough to accept 300 thousand dollar Jamie Bell fire donations.

Offer of a $300,000 new High Park playground stumbles at city hall... Ouch


Yes public consultation is necessary for the rebuild of the play structure of the Jamie Bell Playground.

This blog would bet that the planned High Park residents association Monday April 2nd will be packed. Probably it should be viewed as the initial community consultation meeting by the local council members for wards 13 and 14. Both sets of members could assist and give support to city staff to classify this meeting as a community consultation.

City staff are skilled at understanding the mechanisms of city regulations, usually much better than the elected persons.

Fact: After the last city workers strike, city staff expedited all the permits for host of arts festivals and council member motions of support were passed in days.

To cover the thoughts and opinions of all recently concerned staff and the council
members could attend any other community meetings, to ensure voices are heard.

Really is it not reasonable to think the entire community is aware of the situation, and views it as a community priority.

In all of this, just look at the excellent and smart work the High Park RA is doing about this issue, let's all go to the meeting and support them.

Here is an outtake from their opinions and activities from the Toronto Star article.

But Jeff Derksen, chair of the High Park Residents’ Association, said his group and the companies already held one consultation meeting, attended by some 80 people on 24 hours’ notice, and expected 200 at another meeting they scheduled. They also organized four brainstorming sessions with local children.

“I understand that the city would like to follow a process it knows well internally. I personally don’t understand why there wouldn’t be a process exception given the exceptional nature of the generosity that’s being offered by people whose work this is,” Derksen said.

News of the city’s decision spread Friday via a Facebook group dedicated to the rebuilding effort. One resident called it “sad and heartbreaking.” Wrote another: “Foolish bureaucracy!”


Link to complete article on the Toronto star site


Old High Park Familly fun place to become RPM Spinning Site?

Unconfirmed by the now empty space at the north east corner of Dundas and Pacific Ave. will
House a

rpmstudio SPINNING+GRAVITY

www.rpmstudio.ca

2109 Bloor Street West
Toronto, ON M6S 1M5

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Urban ag rules changing in some areas to allow a host of farming activities

While Toronto hums and sways, on local food creation urban life in other cities moves to encompass the closer to home food sourcing movement.

Farm factories - using disused industrial buildings, roof gardens to grow food stuffs, provide local wholesome :-) employment that is also exciting are directions many people would like to see happen, if the number of blogs, groups and people who are vocal about this are to listened to.




Link to full article

Spacing magazine has a great article on Laneway housing


Link to spacing laneway article

Vine Parkette the external gym.




A local gym is using Vine Parkette as a out door workout area, my we are becoming so Brooklyn.

Martino Brothers Collision alters their iconic building







Since 1955 Martino Brothers Collision CSN has been a fixture in the Junction both for its business of auto body repair and the white enameled purpose build building it occupies.

Now they are altering the building, seeming adding a second floor in the north west corner of the building.

Gone are the long vertical windows on this side if the building.

If the greater Junction area ever had a beautiful brutalist building this building this is it.

3379 Dundas Street West still has it direct Dundas St flank in situ with just a minor window alteration. Still there are the full height vertical setbacks which identify this building.




www.martinobrothers.com/

Breakfast in Parkdale on Queen St West







A while a eggsmart eatery appeared next to the Easy restaurant on Queen St West.

A great location you can get stated and known from the weekend overflow from Easy.

This set of building two buildings left wanting







Once in a while the builders of spec buildings in the greater Junction area have melded two rather mundane structures they have built. Usually this has been accomplished by the facade in the greater junction area.

Right now you can see this in the partly removed facades of two buildings along Dundas St W. near Gilmore Ave on the south side.

Looking at the images above you can clearly see the ghost images of the facade that crossed these two buildings.

You can can also see the simple I beam that supported the weigh of the structure above the doorways .

The facade detail was intended to cover this steel as well as provide a decorative feature.

Really hope the removed part comes back.


Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Walkable cities can reduce crime ...from the this big city blog




-



Every city has at least a few streets where you won’t feel completely safe from crime. This might be due to several factors, such as the time of day, who you’re with or the reputation of the area. Research has shown that ‘fear of crime’ affects urban walkability, but now a new project has shown that the reverse may also be true: that improving the walkability of a street can reduce the number of crimes in an area.

Testing Broken Windows

Since the 1980s the ‘broken window theory‘ has been widely debated in criminology and government policy. The theory suggests that the quality of the urban environment, such as the presence of broken windows, may encourage vandalism and escalation into more serious crime. Now a new project in the Netherlands could be about to provide some much needed proof for this theory.-

Rest of article




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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Cango: 3449 Dundas St W: Windermere Ave, car wash growing big big big.




Cango: 3449 Dundas St W: Windermere Ave, car wash growing big big big. It even appears parts will be two stories tall.

Good save of beautiful oriel window building front by building owner




This building housing Scandinavia and I hear now Japanese furniture and designer maker objects has won a coup with its present owners. After an extended period fronted with scaffolding, now removed the wonderfully designed front outcrop is still there.

This architectural feature on this building has long been a prize in the facade treatments of the Junction.

Great to see it remain.

Mjölk (Milk) pure, honest, and essential. Mjölk represents designers from ... Located in the Junction neighborhood of Toronto. Mjölk. 2959 Dundas St W; Toronto Canada. 416-551-9853 ...




Location:The Queensway,Toronto,Canada

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Does the Junction lack men wear shop.

The Dundas St W. strip in the Junction has no Men's wear shop. At one time it had a number. including including acmen's store at Medland Ave and Dundas St. , one on Keele St just north of Dundas St. West.

On Bloor St just of Bathurst Ave last week this anomaly stuck this author. We really need one, hopefully one with great window displays such as this one on Bloor St. W.









Thursday, March 22, 2012

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Is the Hole in the Wall the place to be?






Dundas St. South side at Keele St.


Recently, this author has heard of many people frequenting the Hole in the Wall. Is this establishment filling a void caused by the departure of the Troubadour?

The Hole in the Wall, has a warm and definitely cozy atmosphere, with great local brews on offer. They are slowly introducing a small food menus, that seem to follow a theme each weekend...comfort foods, artisan cheeses etc.

Many people this author knows are enjoying this revitalized pub with its great music and inviting environment.

Is the neighborhood still lacking places where neighbors can gather and unwind after a long week?


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Runnymede Health Centre and it's original arch entryway

Amazingly the people who run the Runnymede Health Centre planned and succeeded in saving the original arch entryway. The old building was taken down for a much needed new building.

Robbing out the original arch from the building was a best possible choice. It not only saves a important architectural element of the built environment of the community, the effort also provides an avenue for a project to provide situational use remembrance of the site and it's storied history.

Now the arch sits stored at rear of the new building.


The 1st image is part of the arch still in place during the demolition.


















Posted iPhone

Two men who are barrel recyclers in the Junction



This image indicates their were still traditional forms of recycling practised in among the industries throughout the Junction in 1990

Barrels like the must have been easily found at the meat packers, paint factories, starch processors and rendering companies.

We still have a drum manufacturing coming on Glen Scarlett Rd. We are so lucky.

 

Digital Image Number: I0021492.JPG
Title: Two men who are barrel recyclers in the Junction area of Toronto
Date: 1990
Place: TORONTO (ONT.)
Creator: Robert Teteruck
Format: Black and white print
Reference Code: F 4445-3
Item Reference Code: F 4445-3-0-0-7
Subject: RECYCLING,LABORERS



Sunday, March 18, 2012

Lampton Ave combo retail and house building really excites

Scarce. Buildings exhibiting a character of use though a multitude of small changes over time, and seeming frozen from change are becoming non existent in the the Greater Junction Area.

This Lampton building is one of the last pristine examples.













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Images. Set as original size blogpress

Canada news wire reporting - Canadian Tire Offers Funds and Volunteers to Rebuild High Park Playground Following Weekend Fire




Text of above image

March 18, 2012 1:59 PM - Financial - Retail



Pledges $50,000 to help rebuild children's playground




Will host a community weekend in High Park for all those who want to help and contribute to rebuilding of popular children's playground
TORONTO, March 18, 2012 /CNW/ - Canadian Tire will engage Toronto families and offer funds to help rebuild a popular children's playground in High Park after it was extensively damaged by fire over the weekend.

Canadian Tire is pledging up to $50,000 to fund the rebuilding of the Jamie Bell Adventure Park - a large wooden castle and play area that was originally built by volunteers in 1998. Additionally, Canadian Tire will work with the City of Toronto and area volunteers to host a community event in High Park. This will be an opportunity for Canadian Tire volunteers and local families interested in helping with the rebuild to contribute. Local Canadian Tire stores and Dealers are also supporting the reconstruction of the facility.

"For 90 years, Canadian Tire has been an anchor in Canadian communities. Children having fun, playing and enjoying the outdoors is one of the core reasons why we exist as a company - and is why we want to make sure the Jamie Bell Adventure Park is quickly rebuilt for Toronto's families," said Duncan Fulton, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Canadian Tire.

Canadian Tire will work closely with City Councillor Sarah Doucette and the City of Toronto to ensure a quick rebuild of the High Park playground so families can again enjoy this important Toronto landmark.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Origami is first power folding stroller in the world

In a community with a larger stroller mob, the blog thought this would interest a few.

Via-coolest-gadgets.com

Check out the Origami – most of the time, first time parents find that going out with a little baby in tow is not an easy task at all, as one needs to figure out all the possible eventualities, and bring along enough provisions. Well, setting up a standard stroller could prove challenging, especially when you are already carrying a couple of bags across your shoulders. Well, the Origami might be able to solve whatever problems you have in terms of being too bulky – as it is the first power folding stroller of its kind in the world.

4moms has developed this particular power-folding stroller, where all it takes is a single touch of the button to fold itself. It is also self-charging for that added bit of independence, since generators located in the rear wheels will juice up the Origami whenever you start to walk – or in the case of a stroller, one would naturally stroll. There are also daytime running lights which ensure you and your baby will be able to see what’s going on ahead, as the pathway lights that are located under the stroller will turn on automatically in low-light conditions. Embedded sensors will know whether a child is in the seat, so that it won’t fold itself by accident. All details from the thermometer, speedometer, odometer, tripometer and lifetime tripometer will be displayed on the LCD dashboard. The asking price is definitely not cheap though at $849.99 a pop.




Full article link

http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20120316/origami-power-folding-stroller-world/


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Thursday, March 15, 2012

Ward 13 Councillor Sara Doucette to hold safety update meeting




Text from.... Councillor Doucette

Dear Junction residents and friends,

In the past couple of months, a number of local crime related issues have been in the media. We will be getting together with our local police officers and safety specialists to discuss what has occurred, what results have emerged, and what we can do to protect ourselves.

Date: Thursday, March 22, 2012
Time: 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Location: West Toronto Baptist Church (Dundas Street West)





Location:The Junction, Toronto,Canada

No window bars please

Why some retailers and commercial building owners see and feel the need to have windows bars fitted to the shop windows of their buildings is odd.

This happens throughout the Greater Junction Area. It is really unnecessary, as smash and grabs are almost unknown here, even during the period of "The Decline" in economic activity in the year.

And with today's prosperity in the GJA this activity only harms that area the community, especially the residential sector. It causes passers by to get that chilly fright of a risky area, which we are not.

Isn't it time we let these shops and building owners know we don't what these window bars blighting our visual views and the living character of our streetscape.

In the following images the black painted shop with the window bars is in the Junction Triangle and the other store is on the Dundas St strip.


20120315-100343.jpg

20120315-100356.jpg

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Stockyards retail development landscape images.

The huge and highly anticipated retail mall at the north west corner of St Clair Ave and Keele St. has had building permits issued.

But right now the most viable and rather striking feature of the conversation of the last major lot in the old stockyards area are the large landscape views afforded.

These image were taken access the new TTC loop on St Clair Ave. at Gunns Rd. Also pictured below showing addition landscape work being performed.


- TTC loop below

Monday, March 12, 2012

Weston Rd at Black Creek drive has really livened up.

With the massive new railway track bridge being inserted between the early 80's bridge crossing Black Creek Drive at Weston Rd its very different activity level.


Retail of a very different type is
Moving into the area also with a new (update, Mikee’s has been there for years.)  bike shop in a newly renovated facade building. This area has been deprived of retail for decades.


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Graffiti in the old Symes Rd destructor vehicle repair building

At the old waste processing site sits two magnificent buildings one has become a canvas.



















Location:Rockcliffe Ct,Toronto,Canada